The invention relates to a shopping cart disabling device and more particularly to a device which is attached to a shopping cart and is automatically actuated to disable the cart as the shopping cart is moved beyond the perimeter of the area in which the shopping cart is contemplated for normal use.
The theft and removal of shopping carts from supermarket areas is a well recognized problem and there have been various devices which have been proposed for preventing such thefts and minimizing the unauthorized use of the shopping carts. Most of the devices which are used for such purposes rely on the use of some mechanism that locks up or brakes one of the wheels of the cart. This type device is undesirable because the mechanisms are usually complicated and expensive to manufacture. Apart from this; by operating in conjunction with one of the cart wheels, if a part of the mechanism is faulty or becomes worn out, the cart is usually completely disabled until a replacement part is secured and installed on the shopping cart. The mechanisms in such cases are also complicated and time consuming to be set. Such devices are usually actuated by sensing a depression, obstruction, magnet or something else at the border of the shopping area. In other instances the mechanisms are set at the checkout counter or in the area proximate thereto for subsequent actuation after a predetermined distance of travel by the cart.
Other devices operate independently of the shopping cart wheels but these devices are generally less than satisfactory because they are easily damaged, complicated to reset, easily circumvented and/or subject to inadvertent actuation during the normal contemplated use for the shopping cart.